OFFICIALS TO MTA: RESTORE ORIGINAL “FREEDOM TICKET” PLAN

QUEENS, NY – In advance of the upcoming Board Meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Borough President Melinda Katz, U.S. Representatives Gregory Meeks, Senators Leroy Comrie and James Sanders, Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman and Clyde Vanel and Councilmembers Adrienne Adams and Daneek Miller in a joint letter to MTA Chairman Joe Lhota expressed their opposition to the MTA’s proposed revision to the “Freedom Ticket” plan, which would force Freedom Ticket riders seeking to get to and from midtown Manhattan to first transfer at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.

The proposed revision would eliminate the discounted LIRR one-way $6.50 Freedom Ticket fare originally proposed in 2015 between six southeast Queens stations (Rosedale, Laurelton, Locust Manor, St. Albans, Hollis and Queens Village) and Penn Station in Manhattan or Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. Currently, the $10.25 one-way peak weekday fare is cost prohibitive for many between the Queens stations and Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal.

“As you know, we have been avid supporters of the ‘Freedom Ticket’ plan put forward by the New York City Transit Riders Council (NYCTRC) in 2015,” the elected officials wrote in a joint letter this week to Chairman Joe Lhota. “The inferior Freedom Ticket pilot program now under consideration, however, would force users… a transfer that would substantially increase their commuting times… Given this significant limitation, without the option of Penn Station, I expect few southeast Queens residents would use Freedom Tickets if the pilot program is implemented in its current state. The pilot is therefore being set up for failure, an outcome that is unacceptable, as it will not properly serve SEQ residents, allow for sufficient outreach in the community, nor gauge their use of a long term program.”

The next MTA Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

The full text of the joint letter is below:

March 5, 2018

Joe Lhota

Chairman

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

2 Broadway

New York, NY 10004

Dear Chairman Lhota:

We write today to bring to your attention the problems posed by a proposed revision to the “Freedom Ticket” plan that would significantly limit the plan’s effectiveness by preventing commuters from using Freedom Tickets to travel to and from Penn Station.

As you know, we have been avid supporters of the “Freedom Ticket” plan put forward by the New York City Transit Riders Council (NYCTRC) in 2015. The plan, if enacted as originally proposed, would ease the commutes of thousands of southeast Queens residents by allowing them to buy discounted tickets for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the rail line that offers southeast Queens the fastest transit option for getting to and from midtown Manhattan but is currently cost prohibitive for many.

Specifically, the original proposal would have allowed passengers entering or exiting the LIRR at six southeast Queens stations (Rosedale, Laurelton, Locust Manor, St. Albans, Hollis and Queens Village) to take a one-way trip to or from Penn Station in Manhattan or Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn using a “Freedom Ticket” sold for a discounted price of $6.50. The Freedom Ticket would also include a free transfer to New York City Transit subways and buses. The present plan by the MTA, however, only allows the Freedom Ticket fare to Atlantic Terminal and excludes Penn Station.

The Freedom Ticket has great potential to reduce the cost and time burdens faced by southeast Queens transit users who commute to Manhattan. Right now these residents must either pay a high price (currently $10.25 for a one-way peak fare) for a quick trip on the LIRR, or a lower fare for a much longer trip via New York City Transit.

The NYCTRC’s proposal would give southeast Queens residents a LIRR fare to and from Manhattan that is 37 percent cheaper than the one-way peak fare. It would also give transit users who do not currently use the LIRR a more affordable way to travel and would cut their commuting times almost in half, according to a 2015 NYCTRC report.

These cost and time benefits would be a boon to southeast Queens residents and do much to make southeast Queens more accessible to the rest of the City and make the area an even more attractive place to live, work and visit. The NYCTRC proposal has thus received our most heartfelt endorsement.

The inferior Freedom Ticket pilot program now under consideration, however, would force users seeking to get to and from midtown Manhattan to transfer at Atlantic Terminal, a transfer that would substantially increase their commuting times compared to what they would be if they could travel directly between Penn Station and southeast Queens on the LIRR. This pilot would also not accurately be able to determine the amount of relief to the subway lines that the original Freedom Ticket would provide. We see very little change possible with this pilot.

For example, a weekday LIRR train departing Rosedale Station at 7:44 a.m. gets to Penn Station in only 34 minutes, which is about the time it takes for an LIRR train to get from Rosedale Station to Atlantic Terminal. But LIRR riders who transfer at Atlantic Terminal face a subway ride of at least a half-hour to reach Penn Station. That means a commute from Rosedale to Penn Station that takes only 34 minutes on the LIRR takes more than an hour for a commuter who transfers from the LIRR to the subway at Atlantic Terminal.

Given this significant limitation, without the option of Penn Station, I expect few southeast Queens residents would use Freedom Tickets if the pilot program is implemented in its current state. The pilot is therefore being set up for failure, an outcome that is unacceptable given the huge amount of promise that the original Freedom Ticket plan held. Therefore, the proposed six month pilot to Atlantic Terminal is unacceptable, as it will not properly serve SEQ residents, allow for sufficient outreach in the community, nor gauge their use of a long term program.